Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Kelly for coming before the joint committee. It is interesting to hear the other side of the story, having listened to the case presented by a number of other groups. Mr. Kelly will have followed our deliberations and will no doubt have noted that one could have concluded from most of the previous presentations that there were no problems in the sector, the current system is fair, everybody loved everybody else and every supplier was perfectly happy with the prices being paid for their products. Mr. Kelly painted a different picture.

Many of the other groups that appeared before us indicated they would not have a problem with a voluntary code but would have a difficulty with a statutory code. They appeared to indicate that their principal objection was not to the power provided by a statutory code but the bureaucracy it would create. Would it be possible to introduce a national statutory code that would have teeth but would not create unnecessary bureaucracy? In designing any scheme, it is necessary to consider the benefits of the scheme in the context of the work required to achieve the desired outcome. I am interested in Mr. Kelly's response to this because the creation of bureaucracy was the main argument presented against a statutory code. I assume from Mr. Kelly's contribution that Food and Drink Industry Ireland favours a strong statutory code.

Food and Drink Industry Ireland represents the industry. We also have primary producers, processors and retailers. How do the processors believe they measure up in terms of demand from retailers? In other words, one suspects that the primary producer is the weakest link in the power chain. How much pressure is being applied to processors to drive down prices? Is the financial pressure on processors forcing them to put pressure on suppliers and primary producers? Some of us suspect that this pressure is forcing processors to switch to cheaper ingredients, including imports. Does Mr. Kelly believe the recent horsemeat scandal was an indirect, if unjustifiable, action caused by ever increasing demand for cheaper ingredients?

Will Mr. Kelly outline the position in terms of quality versus price as pressure is applied by large multiple retailers? Is quality being diminished to secure more competitive prices? We heard some figures on the prices at which beefburgers are retailing. I am interested in industry's experience of price pressure. Is this pressure forcing the industry to use lower quality ingredients? Has price pressure on Irish food and drink manufacturers forced them to source lower quality products or materials outside the State?

We heard very little about product labelling. What challenges does the industry face to ensure products that Irish labelled products come from Ireland?

There seems to be so much packaged in Ireland with all sorts of flags and so on put on produce. Is there an industry approach to labelling to ensure it is absolutely transparent that a product is Irish? I agree that in the case of manufactured products this causes a difficulty. I am interested in hearing the view of the delegation on how this labelling issue should be dealt with in order that we know the provenance of products, especially where there is a mixture of raw materials. If a product is labelled as pure beef, one hopes there is nothing else in it except beef.

At EU level does the delegation see the European Union taking action on this issue in the short term in a mandatory way? I am not referring to voluntary guidelines. Will it deal with the international element that many multiples exhibit? Does the delegation believe we can do things at a national level ahead of the European Union? How effective can we be at a national level? How important is it to have legal intervention in Europe if we want to deal with this issue, given the sheer size of the multiples?

That is my first round of questions and I thank the delegation for listening.